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Up Topic American Welding Society Services / Technical Standards & Publications / Where do I find the F number for electrodes in D1.1?
- - By eekpod (****) Date 11-24-2006 15:13
I am reviewing a few or our old welder certs while filling out a new welders cert, and I am finding a descrepincy in the recording of the  filler metal "F-no" that's called for on the welder qualification record form.

I can't find the F number for FCAW E71T-1 (AWS specification A5.20) in D1.1 (2006).

I can find the referance to Table 4.12 Item 2, but that addresses SMAW not FCAW. Then in Table 4.13, I have to assume(but I don't like to) that it again is for SMAW. 

My old certs have F10 as the F number and I can't figure out or confirm where that came from.  Any help in directing me would be appreciated.   Thanks Chris
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 11-27-2006 13:36
Chris,
I believe Fluxcore is F-6 by the old classification, for what that's worth as D1.1 seems to only classify the SMAW rods in the F-No chart.
Parent - - By swnorris (****) Date 11-27-2006 14:15 Edited 11-27-2006 14:41
Check this out:

http://fnumbers.com/

Or, it may be shown in Table QW-432 in ASME Section IX
Parent - - By eekpod (****) Date 11-28-2006 11:41
Doesn't it seem strange that D1.1 that calls for the information, doesn't supply it somewhere in the code?  I came up w/ F6 also but I used B2.1  but if I didn't have that I'd be outta luck.  Thanks CHris
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 11-28-2006 12:04
Yeah Chris that's it, I had forgot all about Table III-1 in B2.1.
Parent - - By eekpod (****) Date 11-28-2006 21:45
John, in your previous post you mentioned that it's (F-6 in the old classification.)
What's the old classification your referring to?  and is there a new one?
Sorry to harp on things, I just curious,   Chris
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 11-28-2006 23:44
Chris,
I looked back in several of the older versions of D1.1 (back to 1996) thinking that I had seen it in there at some point, but I didn't see it. I'm thinking that it may have been referenced in one of the books that I got back when I took the D1.1 seminar in preparation for taking the CWI exam. Welding Technologies or something like that. I loaned that book out several years ago and it has never returned. I had several people that would come into my office and borrow that book for different reasons and now I don't know who has it. I've asked around our office and nobody seems to remember borrowing it and not returning it. Everyone says, "yeah I borrowed that one time, but I put it back when I was finished with it". I would like to get another copy of that book because I'm sure they have updated it several times since I had a copy. Sorry, I wish I could be more specific about where I saw the references to the F-No's.
Parent - By eekpod (****) Date 11-29-2006 21:54
Thanks for all your help.  Luckily I figured it out, I just thought I was missing it because I couldn't find it in D1.1, and low and behold it was never there to begin with.  Thanks Chris
Parent - - By 803056 (*****) Date 12-05-2006 03:07
The F10 may have come from B2.1-84.

As noted, AWS D1.1 lists F numbers for SMAW electrode only. I believe the concept of F numbers was to indicate "ease of use" of the various SMAW electrode classifications by the welder. An E7024 is easier to use than an E7016, thus the E7024 gets the F1 rating while the E7016 gets the F4. If the welder can pass the performance test with an electrode that is categorized as more difficult to use, he can weld with any electrode categorized as having a lower F number. The concept is only valid for F1 through F4 electrodes. The concept of F numbers has been expanded to include other processes were the "ease of use" concept is not meaningfull, but is still usefull to categorizing filler metals and what the welder is qualified to use.

Sometime between 1984 and now, AWS B2.1 harmonized their F numbers with those of ASME Section IX. What used to be listed in B2.1-84 as F10 (flux cored electrodes meeting AWS A5.20 and maybe A5.29) has been incorporated into F6.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Best regards and Season's Greeting - Al
Parent - - By eekpod (****) Date 12-05-2006 21:25
Thanks Al, it sounds like you may be right, unfortunately, I no longer am in contact with the person who originally filled out the WPS and put in F10, so I can't ask him.

So I guess it's safe to say that unless it's an SMAW filler rod, one might be able to leave the F# section blank, since unless one has access to other manuals and or code books, they won't be able to determine the F number for other processes.

You would think the filler rod manufacturer would put it on the box w/ all the other info.  It has the AWS category and specification # on the box, why don't they add the F number to make it easy.  Maybe that's why, it would make it too easy.
Thanks  Chris
Parent - By pax23 (**) Date 12-08-2006 16:58
Chris,

F-no. is a performance limitation for SMAW only.

If you use a process other than SMAW than F-no. is not an essential variable. You may choose to record it or not, thats your call. B2.1 is the best source for the F-no., as you have already found out.
Up Topic American Welding Society Services / Technical Standards & Publications / Where do I find the F number for electrodes in D1.1?

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